Taurean Prince was officially named the Los Angeles Lakers’ fifth starter ahead of the season opener against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. And it didn’t take long to figure out why, as Prince was one of L.A.’s most efficient and effective offensive players during a disappointing 119-107 loss to drop the Lakers to 0-1 on the season.
Prince played 30 minutes, finishing with 18 points on 6-for-8 from the field and 4-for-6 from three. He was three points away from the team high 21 points scored by LeBron James and did so with highly efficient shooting numbers from all areas of the court. And that’s exactly what Prince believed he could bring when he signed with the Lakers this offseason.
Prince discussed his role with the Lakers and how he felt he needed to adjust, if at all, to working with a brand new team and a brand new starting five, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“My job hasn’t changed since I got into the NBA, so it’s all about just finding the tendencies of the guys I’m playing with and getting to spots where I know if they don’t have what they have, they can hit me and I can make a shot.”
Prince also chose to look on the positive side despite the loss, saying that there are some things to improve on but that it would be impossible to match the game one chemistry of the NBA champion Nuggets.
“A lot of things felt good. Like I said, they’re a very good team, been together probably going on two or three years now, so you got to just tip your hat where you’re supposed to. Like I said, there’s a lot of things where we can get better so I think that’s the bright side about this L.”
Obviously, the Lakers aren’t going to make many sweeping conclusions based on one game, especially when the organization has not won a season opener since James joined the team in 2018. But they do need to take away some learning lessons from the result of this game.
Prince, after a strong start to his Lakers tenure, is going to continue doing what he’s always done and hope that the results stay consistent.
Prince grateful and excited for starting opportunity
Prior to his first start with L.A., Prince spoke about what it meant to him to come in and earn that fifth starting spot over players like Rui Hachimura and (the currently injured) Jarred Vanderbilt.
“All the hard work coming together and paying off, so I’m super grateful and excited about the opportunity,” Prince said.
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